120 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
April 
DOMESTIC PIGEONS. 
The family of birds called Columbida, or pigeons, 
as arranged by naturalists, comprehends five distinct 
groups, each containing several species. These birds 
are, from their characters and habits, objects of much 
interest. 11 In no tribe of the feathered race,” says the 
author of the “ Natural History of Pigeons,” “ do we 
meet with a plumage better adapted to gratify and de- 
Mght the eye, than that of the pigeons.” The variety 
and brilliancy of the tints, are hardly surpassed even 
by the humming-birds. 
The domestic varieties of the pigeon, have, it is be¬ 
lieved, derived their origin from one species—the wild 
Rock Pigeon, or as it is sometimes called, the Stock- 
Dove. They have become so numerous that it would 
be difficult to describe them all, though there are no 
less than twenty-eight varieties which have been held 
in more or less estimation by fanciers , or breeders. 
tl But,” says the author above referred to, 11 however 
diversified their forms, color, or peculiarity of habit 
may be, we consider them alias having originated from 
a few accidental varieties of the common pigeon, [or 
rock pigeon,] and not from any cross of that bird with 
other species, no sign or marks whatever of such being 
apparent in any of the numerous varieties known to us. 
In fact the greater part of them owe. their existence to 
the interference and the art of man; for, by separating 
from the parent stock such accidental varieties as have 
occasionally occurred, by subjecting these to captivity 
and domestication, and by assorting and pairing them 
together, as fancy or caprice suggested, he has at in¬ 
tervals originated all the various and peculiar varie¬ 
ties which, it is well known when once produced, may 
be perpetuated for an indefinite period, by being kept 
separate and unmixed with others.” Among other evi¬ 
dences of the correctness of this position, it is worthy 
of particular note, that all domestic varieties of the 
pigeon, breed readily with each other, and generate a 
fertile offspring; which it is not probable would be the 
ease if they had originated from distinct species. 
The parent species of the domestic pigeon is an in¬ 
habitant of the eastern continent, and is extensively 
distributed through the maritime districts of Europe, 
Asia, and Africa. It naturally inhabits the high clefts 
and caves of rocks near the sea. It is abundant along 
the rocky coasts of England and Scotland, and in the 
Hebridean and Orkney Islands. Man, it is said, “ has 
only taken advantage of certain habits natural to the 
species, and by the substitution of an artificial for a 
real cavern, to which the pigeon-house may be com¬ 
pared, has without violating or at least greatly infring¬ 
ing upon its natural condition, brought it into a kind of 
voluntary subjection, and rendered it subservient to his 
benefit and use.” 
The pigeon has been kept in a state of partial do¬ 
mestication for a great length of time. They are men¬ 
tioned by the earliest writers, and were held in great 
estimation by nations of antiquity; by some of which, 
especially the Assyrians, they were consecrated to 
sacrifice. In their wild as well as domestic state, 
they are remarkable for their rapid increase. An old 
writer calculates that from a single pair 14,760 may 
be produced in the space of four years. The female 
lays two eggs at a time, which, if they hatch, it is said 
invariably produce a male and female. The period of 
incubation is fifteen days; and in a domestic state, each 
pair hatches once in five or six weeks; in a wild state 
they rarely hatch more than twice in a season. The 
male and female relieve each other in sitting. 
The most esteemed domestic varieties of pigeons, 
are known under the names of carriers, powters or 
croppers, tumblers, horsemen, jacobines, nuns, owls, 
runts, turbits, trumpeters and dragoons. There are 
particular individuals, called fanciers , who make the 
breeding of pigeons a, profession, and those which they 
particularly cultivate and esteem, are called fancy va¬ 
rieties. Notwithstanding the striking peculiarities of 
these varieties, it is said that the fanciers can, by a 
skilful pairing of male and female, “ breed them to a 
feather.” 
The Carrier ( c ) is remarkable for its powers of 
flight, and for an innate sagacity or instinct which 
prompts it to return to its home, when it has been car- 
